It flows like water, ancient and wise
Whilst I was chilling out by the river, I was reminded of a Langston Hughes poem.The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow
of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went
down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn
all golden in the sunset.
I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
There's a soothful rendition of the poem by Hughes, along with a brief commentary, here.
posted by Iqbal Khaldun @ 1:40 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Indeed. Never seen the Amazon or Rio Grande, or the other rivers Hughes mentions for that matter. Hmmm better see them then - sooner rather than later.
The river in the photo I took is the home of 'Murra', an ancient snake and the creater being for the local Aboriginal tribe (the Indjibandji). There's this wonderful story of how Murra travels through the rock, leaving the trail for water which sustains the vegetation and the people. Geologists in more recent times discovered that Murra's trails reflect subterranean water systems. Clearly the Indjibandji's ancestors learnt this themselves, presumably by observing the type of vegetation that grows above the subterranean flows.
I think there will always be a special place in human hearts for flowing water.
Many thanks Kaleidomuslima. I'm quite flattered actually, some very interesting blogs on that list, not to forget your's either. You've probably got the coolest blogger image I've seen yet.
The correct spelling of the word is Aussie. Accept no substitutes :-) Yes am native, in the sense that I was born in Australia, lived here my entire life. Family is originally from Pakistan.
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